


when they met

by horsetrackhiggs



Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, more relationships and characters to come, raph is grey-homoromantic ace btw, simon is trans, so is alec lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 03:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6549142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horsetrackhiggs/pseuds/horsetrackhiggs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>when simon and raphael first met, they were 13 and it was at a lgbt support group.</p><p>it wasn't a one time event.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. uno

When Simon met Raphael, he wasn’t Simon. Well, he was the same nerdy piece of shit, but he still wasn’t himself.

When they met, Simon was 13 year old Anat, wearing baggy clothes and never brushing her hair (her mother wouldn’t let her cut it and she hated it more than anything). Honestly, Simon wasn’t even a thing yet, it was just confused little Anat that didn’t know what to do with herself. Her mom would kill her if she knew she was here. After nights of crying to her best friend Clary and her mom, they snuck her to a group for questing youth the town over, an lgbt support group.

It wasn’t Raphael’s first time there, but it was his first time alone, usually his mother or a sibling would accompany him, but this time he was simply dropped off with a meeting place for when it was over. So he was just a bit nervous, playing with his hands as he stood in the room, watching everyone talk amongst themselves, waiting for everyone to arrive.

Anat, soon to be Simon, came in with tears down her face, clinging to Clary’s hand like her life depended on it. Her mom was talking to the people in charge, and Raphael was only a few feet away from the two kids. He’s looking at them, and accidentally caught Clary’s eye, who pushed herself and her friend over to the boy.

“Come on Anat! He seems nice, and you’re here to make friends too!” She whispered, using her free hand too way too the boy.

“Hi, I’m Clary and this is my best friend Anat! We’re new.” She stated with a wide grin, and Raphael just smiled nervously.

“Uh, nice to meet you, I’m Raphael.” He mumbled, looking down at his feet. “Uhm, what are your preferred pronouns?”

Clary made a face. “My what?”

“You know, what you go by? She, him, they? That kind of stuff, cuz gender...more than two and expression and identity don’t have to go hand in hand….and all that stuff…” He’s flushed as he explains, knowing he is rambling on, but this is what they were advised to do when you first meet someone, so he really hoped he was going about it right.

“Oh, like that. Well, like, she and stuff! What about you, Raph?”

“He and him, please.” He sighed, going silent for a moment before looking too her friend.  “What about you, uh, Anat?”

At that, Anat frozen up. Which lead to Raphael getting more anxious than he already was, his hands actually dripping with sweat. Clary nudged her Jewish friend hard, who made a noise in the back of her throat.

“I, uh, uhm, well you see, I’m not, I’m not, yaknow, not really sure? I’m like super confused right now, and like, that’s why we are here, and stuff. Uhm, but, I would, it would be cool if, like, you just, didn’t, like, call me, uhm, yaknow, she, and uhm, maybe he, you feel?.” She just barely managed to get out, and Raphael just smiled.

“Cool, I can do that. And if you ever like, need help, or want to uh, talk, I’m down.” He offered after clearing his voice, and Anat hasn’t smiled so big in awhile.

It goes silent again and soon the group is coming together. The two go back to Clary’s mom and Raphael just quickly makes his way to a family friend and his boyfriend who finally decided to show.

The next time they meet Clary is there again, but Anat doesn’t talk to her, only Raphael. They talk quickly about gender, the darker one doing his best to answer all the questions being thrown at him.

“Raphael, I think I’m trans.” Anat says, a smile coming onto his face.

“That’s cool.” Is all Raphael says.

Anat misses the next three sessions, and when the two young boys meet again all of Anat’s hair is gone, well it’s not gone, but it’s in a short boyish cut.

“Your hair!” Raphael exclaims, a bit confused because one, Clary was not there, and two, he remembers Anat saying that his mother refused to let him cut his hair.

“Pretty sweet right? I put glue in my hair so we had to do it!” He grinned, and Raphael thought he was going to piss himself laughing.

“¿Estás de broma , amigo?” He barely manages to get out through his heaving, and even though Anat doesn’t know what the Hispanic boy said but he shrugged anyways.

“I think I found a name I like. For me, that is.”

“What is it?”

“Simon.” He stated proudly, and Raphael gave him a soft smile.

“Simon, I like it. It’s so, you.”

“Thanks! I’ve been really into it so, I think it’s gonna stick, yaknow.”

He came out to the group and everyone told him that they were proud of him, and Raphael held his hand with a wide grin.

The tenth time they meet, Raphael introduces him to Magnus and Alec, seeing as Simon had been going on and on about how he wanted to get a binder, and well Mangus was better at talking to people than his trans boyfriend.

“Hey, Simon, Raph here tells me you’d like to get a binder?” Alec says before introducing himself, which makes Mangus huff loudly.

“Hello Simon, I’m Alec’s boyfriend, Mangus. And we’d like too help you obtain one, you see.”

Simon had a grin that was much too big for his face, throwing his arms around his friend.

“Oh my God really? Thank you so much!” He was pretty much screaming as he followed the other two to get his measurements all sorted out.

A few weeks later when they met, Simon wanted to come out to his mother, and asked if Magnus and Alec would do it with him. They said yes.

The last time Raphael and Simon met, it wasn’t pleasant. His mother was angry, yelling at the two older men as Simon sobbed his eyes out, racing out of the room to his friend.

“She doesn’t accept me Raph! She doesn’t love me I don’t know what to do!” He cried, and Raphael didn’t know what to do, so he just slowly warped his shaky arms around his friend and let him wail into his shoulder.

Alec was doing his best to calm Simon’s mother down, but it wasn’t working. She stormed away from him, gripping her son hard and dragging him away. Simon just screamed as they left, and only then did Raphael let himself cry.

He didn’t think they would meet again.

 


	2. dos

When Raphael is 15, he makes eye contact with Clary, who happens to be one a date with the most beautiful girl she's ever seen.  
  
"Raph!" She yells, jumping up from her chair and racing over. "Oh my god! It's been, like way too long!"  
  
He gave her a soft smile, mumbling a greeting as she took his arm and dragged him over to where she had been sitting.  
  
"This is my girlfriend Izzy!" She introduces, and he is slightly confused.  
  
"Izzy? How do you know her?" He questioned, not really knowing her too well, only through Alec vaguely.  
  
"Oh you know, I was getting sick of waiting up for Alec to come home-- which he never really does anymore, I mean, he's 18 now so I guess he doesn't have too." She starts, moving to hold Clary's hand. "So shitty dating apps it was, and now here I am."  
  
Raphael smiled lightly, giving them a nod. "Well, I'm happy for the both of you." He says softly, the silence getting a bit awkward.  
  
He wanted to ask about Simon, and Clary knew he did too, but neither said anything.  
  
He left as quickly as he came, leaving the two girls to share sweet kisses and words of love.  
  
Also, when he was 15, he was confused. Everyone around him was talking about crushes and sometimes sex, and he just didn't get it. He's maybe had one crush, when he was like, 11. And it wasn't even a real crush, he was in love with some tv show character that he can't even remember the name of now. He knows it was a guy, and was funny, that's it.  
  
He's convinced that there is something wrong with him. Maybe he's a late bloomer like his mother said, maybe he's picky like his best friend Lily said.

Maybe he's broken, like he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao this chapter is SUPER short and simons not even in it. the next one will be longer, this one was more just to get into raph's mindset n shit yafeel???? i probably could have made it longer, but i like this so?? idk why im explaining myself #rip


	3. tres

When Simon is 15, his hair is long again, everyone is calling him Anat. He's able to get away with jeans and ratty tees, which he's never been more thankful for.

He also has a super great, super hot boyfriend named Jace. And Simon was pretty sure he loved the other boy, but he couldn't help the sickening feeling in his stomach every time Jace called him his girlfriend.

God, his mother was right, he needed to let that shit go, it was just a phase, just a phase, and he knew it too. He was a girl, no questions asked.

Sometimes Clary gives him a sad look, he has to just shake it off. Because he's normal now, and his mom loves him like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lied last time in the end notes like lol sue me but anyways here yall go :') (this was so short omg sorry)
> 
> tumblr: miserysucculent

**Author's Note:**

> HI this is shit but i love saphael and trans simon a lot SO :')
> 
> tumblr: cobracamjunior


End file.
